Cami and Stu showed up at the residence at ten past eight, moments after Father Mike and the archbishop had departed. Once again Ali was impressed by the way Stu took charge of the gathering in the drawing room, explaining to the impromptu posse how the iPads had been set so that once the camera on each iPad was activated, it would run continuously until the device ran out of battery power. He showed them how the iPads should be held to provide the widest possible angle for the camera lenses. Finally he produced a paper showing the layout of the cathedral’s entrances and interior, pointing out where each person would be stationed in order to provide maximum coverage.
“All right,” Father Winston said when Stu finished. “What happens if we find her?”
“The screen on the affected iPad will go full red. When that happens, Frigg will be notified, and she’ll send texts to everyone, letting us know and directing everyone to the target’s location inside the church. The idea is to surround the suspect and isolate her in such a way as to mitigate any potential damage.”
“And the Tasers?” Father Winston asked.
“You have to be within fifteen feet of the target before one of those works,” Cami explained. “Hitting her with the darts will disable her long enough to disarm her, and that’s the whole point. She obviously has a lethal weapon and isn’t afraid to use it.”
“I always thought churches were supposed to be gun-free zones,” Father McCray observed sadly.
“Trust me,” Cami said. “If Rachel Higgins shows up today, the cathedral won’t be a gun-free zone for anybody. That’s why the rest of us are using Tasers. We can’t run the risk of setting off a barrage of gunfire inside the church. If innocent bystanders end up being zapped by Tasers in the melee, at least they won’t be dead. Questions?”
With no further comments, and with no objections either, it was up to Stu to end the pre-encounter briefing. “All right, then,” he said. “I suspect that people are going to start showing up at the cathedral early. The doors open at ten. I want you all inside and at your designated stations ten minutes before that. Got it?”
“Got it,” Father Winston said. “We’ll be there.”